Etherion
by bubbajack
Summary: Everything has a begining, even Magic wasn't so widespread and it began with a single user. Everyone has secrets some deeper than others. Sometimes keeping keeping secrets can kill you...but other times the truth will set you free. NatsuXWendy NatsuxHarem! Rating could go up.
1. Chapter 1

**Etherion**

**By Bubbajack**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

**Ch.1: Suspicions over breakfast, and answers over drinks...**

_Blood that was all he saw. Her blood dripped down from the stone dais, and he could do nothing but watch a scream as the blood of his beloved was spilled on the arcane device in the hopes of achieving power. Many were sacrificed upon this black stone rune carved table by this wicked cabal amidst demonic chanting like a chorus of the damned. All he could do was watch, bound in chains, as his beloved Lyria died. When he saw her breath her last something inside of him...broke._

_Power raw and unimaginable flowed through his veins, and in a moment of loss induced rage, all before him was covered in a white light. When the light cleared, none of the wicked ones remained only he and the corpse of his beloved Lyria. He walked up the dais and looked upon his beloved. Her face; usually, kind or shy despite the harshness of their life was turned into look of absolute fear and pain as she bled out slowly from numerous slash marks on her naked body. He would never again turn to him in a smile; he would never again hold her in his arms, he would never run his hand through her long blue hair that he loved so much, he would never get to tell her how much he loved her...she was gone._

_The man hit his knees in despair, cradling the bloodied corpse close to himself as he cried and among his grief he swore an oath "I will make them pay Lyria, I promise. I promise you every last one of these Magister bastards will die!"_

* * *

Natsu awoke from his nightmare in a cold sweat with tears running down his face.

'_You would think after all this time, I'd be used to the pain but it's still as fresh as ever.'_ He thought to himself.

Then Happy came and perched himself on his bed before asking concernedly "Natsu which one was it this time? Astora, Aurora, Elinore, Jasmine, Rose, Katherine, Melody, Auriel?"

"No Happy it was Lyria." He told his "Son" sadly to which Happy sucked in a gasp in response.

I'm sorry Natsu I know her-"He began only to be cut off as Natsu held up his hand silencing his son.

"It's fine Happy. What time is it anyway?" He asked his cat.

"Hmm...It's almost five." Happy told his father.

"I see, what would you say to an early breakfast Happy?"

"Aye!" the blue furred Exceed responded happily.

Natsu chuckled, and said "Just give me a few minutes to get ready alright?"

"Aye, Aye sir!" Happy said before trotting off.

Natsu got up from his bed, quickly fixing the sheets before heading to a full length mirror he kept in the corner, taking in his visage. His hair was still messy and a horrendous shade of pink, his skin was a healthy tan color, there were no marks on his body that shouldn't be there.

'_Good it stayed up.'_ He thought to himself before he put on his usual attire of a black and gold trimmed vest, white scarf and pants, and wooden sandals.

Now properly dressed, he gathered up Happy and the duo made their way towards the Guild. The sun was just beginning to rise in the sky when Natsu and Happy left the little cottage that served as their home. As Natsu made his way through the quiet morning streets he couldn't help but enjoy the silence, as once he entered the guildhall it was likely to be noisy and he was expected to act loud and obnoxious. Earthland, he hated acting like a moron but he suddenly acting like, well himself, questions would be asked. Questions he had no intention of answering, ever if at all possible.

* * *

Natsu sighed as the guildhall came into sight. Mentally preparing himself to play the fool yet again, Natsu pulled open the doors and let himself and Happy inside. Surprisingly or maybe not so considering the time, no one was up. Cana wasn't sitting at a table drinking Jet and Drory weren't making weird pedo-lovey-dovey eyes at Levy, and not even Mirajane was tending the bar. The only person up was the last one he wanted to meet at all today.

Over in the corner sat Wendy Marvel in a simple blue nightgown as she sipped from a tall glass of milk, with Clara her white Exceed by her side.

Ignoring the two and hoping to be ignored in turn, Natsu made his way into the kitchen and after getting all of the necessary ingredients together began to cook pancakes, hash browns, scrambled eggs, sausage for him, and fried fish for Happy.

He decided it would be rude not to at least offer the girls breakfast no matter how much he was hurting at the moment, Natsu decided to make a little extra incase Wendy and Carla were hungry themselves.

He was just about finished cooking everything when her heard her voice call into the kitchen "Mira-niichan, do you need any help in there?" she asked.

'_She thinks I'm Mirajane? How cute.'_ Natsu thought.

Deciding to have some fun with her he prepared to call out, until her heard another voice talking to Wendy.

"Wendy-chan, good morning!"

'_Oh well there goes my fun, Mira's out there.'_ Natsu thought.

"Huh, Mira-niichan, but if you're out here, then whose cooking in there?" he heard Wendy ask perplexed.

"I don't know Wendy why don't we go see?" he heard Mira ask the young Dragonslayer mischievously.

Natsu just stood there knowing there was no real place to hide and he wouldn't even if he could anyway. Afterall it's just cooking he has much more terrible secrets than that...much, much more terrible.

* * *

The kitchen door swung open and both Mirajane and Wendy stared into the kitchen, expecting someone anyone, but certainly not himself; as when the two met his gaze, a look of surprise crossed both of their features for a moment.

"Natsu-san?" Wendy asked in disbelief.

"Yes?" He asked with a chuckle before he went back to cooking.

"You can cook?" Mira said sounding shocked.

"Yes, and if you give me a few more minutes breakfast will be ready for the five of us." Natsu said calmly not looking up, as if him cooking was an everyday occurrence.

"Oh. That's kind of you Natsu-san thank you." Wendy said giving him a bow.

"It's nothing Wendy, now go sit down I'm almost done." He said still not looking up.

"Oh, ok." Wendy said before she scampered off.

Mirajane stayed looking at Natsu strangely for a moment before walking off herself...

* * *

Breakfast was good, Wendy decided. She had no idea that Natsu-san could cook, but she thought that he was as good if not better than Mirajane. The only thing that bothered her was the fact that he refused to look at her. In the kitchen she thought it was because he was because he was focusing on preparing the food, but as they ate, she tried to speak to the boy she had a crush on since she met him and found while he would answer her, he would not meet her gaze.

'_Did I do something wrong?'_ Wendy wondered sadly.

"Natsu?" Mirajane called getting the rose haired mages attention.

"Yes Mira-chan?" he asked kindly looking her in the face.

"Where did you learn how to cook? This is likely some of the best food I've ever had." She said praising Natsu's prowess in the kitchen.

"It's...a secret." Natsu said slyly.

"Aww, no fair Natsu!" Mirajane whined.

"What's not fair?" a new voice asked.

* * *

The others turned and saw a sleepy-eyed Erza making her way towards them in a crimson bathrobe and matching colored slippers with the Fairy Tail insignia emblazoned in gold on the left breast.

"Erza, good morning." Mirajane said cheerily.

"Good morning Mira, Carla, Wendy, Happy, and Natsu?" She said surprised.

"Yo Erza." Natsu said calmly.

"What are you four doing up so early?" the Titania asked.

"I couldn't sleep, and Carla decided to come with me to get some milk." Wendy said shyly to which the Exceed nodded confirming her story.

"I see, and you two she asked pointing at Natsu and Happy.

"Couldn't sleep, so I decided to come here and get some breakfast." Natsu answered and Happy backed up with an "AYE!"

"I see, so Mira found you all up and made breakfast did she?" Erza asked sounding amused.

"No." Mirajane responded simply.

"No?" Erza echoed "Then who cooked all of this?" Erza asked motioning towards the food they were still in the middle of consuming.

"Natsu-san did." Was Wendy's shy response to the red-headed mage.

"Eh, Natsu can cook? Erza asked in mild surprise.

"Yes, and he won't tell me where he learned how to either which is unfair!" Mirajane pouted apparently not liking the fact that he was better than her in the kitchen.

"Ah." Was all Erza said as she fixed herself a plate and silently began digging into her food, before she began

"This is excellent Natsu!" Erza appraised after a moment.

"Thanks Erza, but it's really nothing special just breakfast." Natsu said as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

* * *

"Don't sell yourself short Natsu both Erza and I, being S-class mages have been to some nice places and have eaten lots of fancy things when we decide to splurge and this is right up there with some of the finer restaurants wouldn't you say Erza?" Mira asked.

"Oh yes, most definitely." Erza said as she cleaned off her plate.

"Thanks, I'm glad you both think it's that good, but really just breakfast for me and Happy when I get into the mood to cook, right buddy?" he asked the blue cat.

"Aye, that's right! Though, I wish you'd do it more often Natsu." Happy complained.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Happy. You're a good cook Natsu-san you should cook more often." Carla said voicing her thoughts and causing waterfalls to sprout from Happy's eyes.

"I-it was delicious Natsu-san thank you." Wendy said stuttering slightly.

"I'm glad you all enjoyed it, well I'm gonna go stretch my legs see you all later." Natsu said before leaving not making eye contact with the wind Dragonslayer.

"Hmm..."Mira said.

"What is it Mira-niichan?" Wendy asked.

"Natsu, there is something going on with him and somehow it involves you Wendy." The Majin no Fairy Tail said more to herself than anyone around her.

"M-me?" Wendy squeaked out.

"Yes, for some reason he can't or won't look at you. I watched him all throughout breakfast and he never once made eye contact with you Wendy. Surely you noticed?" the elder Mage asked the younger.

"Yes, I did. I don't know what I did to offend Natsu-san though, so how can I begin to apologize for something if I'm not sure what it is I did in the first place?" the little girl fretted twisting her nightgown in her hands anxiously.

"I think if you leave Natsu alone for a bit he will tell you what is wrong." Erza supplied.

"You think so Erza-niichan?" Wendy asked her older sister figure.

Nodding Scarlet responded "Yes I do, Wendy. Just give Natsu some space and some time and this problem will work itself out one way or another." She said smiling down at her little sister.

"Ok, do you need some help cleaning up Mira-niichan?" She asked as she watched her other older sister figure began to clean the table.

"No thank you Wendy-chan, Erza and I have this covered. Why don't you go play or something?" She suggested.

"Ok, c'mon Carla." Wendy said as she and her Exceed made their way to her room to get dressed before she headed outside...

* * *

After the little girl had gone, the two strongest female mages in Fairy Tail conversed quietly as they cleaned the table.

"What do you think is going on with Natsu, Erza?" Mira wondered as she picked up plates.

"I don't know Mira, but Natsu's food was first class and I can't think of where he could've learned to cook like that." Erza stated confused.

"Yeah I know how you feel. Perhaps he learned when he was searching for Igneel?" she wondered aloud.

"Possible, but unlikely as he wouldn't have had time to perfect his skill to this degree if he was constantly moving around or in two years' worth of time, no the food we just ate was prepared by someone who has been cooking for a very, _very _long time." Erza concluded.

"But if that is the case, then Natsu would've had to have been cooking since before he could walk." Mirajane joked.

"That...or he would have to be older than he looks." Erza said as a thought as improbable as it seemed sprang to her mind. She quickly pushed it aside however as there was no way that could be possible.

"What do you mean by that, Erza?" Mira questioned curiously.

"It's nothing never mind, just a dumb idea really." Erza said dismissively.

"Hm, If you say so. I think we should keep an eye on Natsu for a little while what do you think?"

"I agree; I'll ask Lucy to do the same, as he acts himself when he is around her more often than me." Erza reasoned.

"Good idea." Mira said.

With their plan set up, the two were prepared to unravel the mystery that was their guildmate...

* * *

The sun was high in the sky when Natsu finally decided to take a break from training after breakfast. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Natsu looked over to Happy who had fallen asleep in a tree behind him and smiled.

'_Little guy can sleep through anything.'_ Natsu thought as he smiled at his "son" affectionately.

Suddenly he heard movement through the brush, and Natsu put himself on guard in case some monster decided to attack him. Instead of a monster however, out from the underbrush came Wendy carrying a picnic basket and Carla.

"Hello Natsu-san! I was hoping to find you here." Wendy said as she dragged the picnic basket behind her with both arms.

"Oh and why were you looking for me Wendy?" Natsu asked not looking her in the eyes still.

"Well two reasons really, one I made you, me, Carla, and Happy a picnic lunch and..." She trailed off and looked at the ground muttering something.

"Wendy?" Natsu asked genuinely curious as he looked at her for the first time today, scrutinizing her.

Wendy raised her head and her brown eyes looked into his black ones fiercely as she said "I want to know why you won't look at me today, Natsu_-kun_" she said putting emphasis on the honorific.

'_Kun? Oh hell, what brought this on?'_ Natsu thought as he stared into her determined brown eyes.

* * *

**Earlier with Wendy**

Wendy though young and shy, was more perceptive than people gave her credit for. She knew Mirajane and Erza wanted to speak privately most likely about Natsu's odd behavior. Using some of her more subtle air magic she listened in on the two's conversation. What she heard got her thinking.

'_Who is Natsu really?'_ the youngest Dragonslayer thought to herself as she and Carla lay on the grass outside the guild and watched the clouds roll by. She thought about what she heard Erza mention about Natsu being older than he looked and knew that it was indeed possible.

'_Is it probable that he was hiding his true age under a transformation? Possibly, but the question is why? Why would Natsu-san need to hide himself from everyone even his Nakama? Also what, if anything did this did this have to do with him not being able to look at me today of all days?'_

"Uhh, this is so confusing Carla!" Wendy moaned, sitting up and rubbing her fingers roughly through her hair.

"What's confusing Wendy?" The Exceed asked.

"Natsu, the way he acted earlier doesn't make any sense, no matter how hard I try to make sense of it." Wendy said despairingly.

"Well then let's just go _**ask**_ Natsu-san what is going on instead of sitting here and speculating on it. Besides you like him don't you?" Carla said getting up.

"C-Carla w-wh-what does that have to do with anything?!" Wendy stuttered out.

Carla gave her surrogate daughter a look that said "Everything" and then said "If you like him you're going to want to show him you can and **will** be there for him, and to do that you got to get him to tell you what's going on get it?" Carla asked.

Wendy was silent for a few moments mulling over what Carla said before she responded "Yeah, I do. Thanks Carla, I know what I need to do now!" Wendy said with determination as fire lit up her eyes.

"Good then go do whatever it is you feel you need to do." Carla said simply.

Wendy nodded and then set off towards the guild. Curious besides herself, Carla followed her daughter to see what she was up to. She found her rummaging through a closet looking for...a blanket? Yes indeed one of the items she pulled out of the overstuffed closet was a blanket and the other was a reed woven basket.

"Ah, now I see. Very clever Wendy she praised quietly.

"Thanks Carla, now would you mind helping me with the next step?" her adopted daughter asked her.

"Of course, what do you need me to do?" the Exceed asked the Dragonslayer.

"Well let's see we are going to need food so to the kitchen I suppose?" Wendy said to which Carla nodded in agreement.

Arriving, the two found Mirajane who was in the middle of cooking some kind of stew.

"Hi Wendy-chan, Carla-chan what can I do for you?" the S-class mage asked sweetly.

"Nothing Mira-niichan, I just need to use the kitchen to make a few sandwiches is all." Wendy said politely as she made her way around the kitchen collecting various food items.

"Oh making a picnic lunch are you? Who are you planning to ask out Wendy-chan?" Mira asked mischievously.

"Yes, for myself and Natsu." Wendy responded evenly though if Mira could see her face at the moment it would be cherry red.

"Oh, are you sure that's wise he may not be out of his strange mood from this morning." Mirajane warned her surrogate little sister.

"It's fine; I intend to get answers out of him regarding that anyway so it doesn't really matter if he is or isn't in a mood still." Wendy said as if she was talking about the weather.

"Oh I see, not going to take no for an answer are you? Mira said with a giggle at the usually shy Wind Dragonslayers seriousness.

"Exactly, I'm going to show Natsu-kun that he can depend on me no matter what just like I've come to depend and rely on him." She responded resolutely.

"Wendy... how do you feel about Natsu?" Mirajane asked the girl in front of her suddenly very curious.

Wendy put the last of the sandwiches in the reed basket before turning around looking her dead in the eye and saying "I love him, and as more than Nakama. I am in love with Natsu Dragneel and right now, he needs me. Excuse me Mira-niichan." Wendy said as she walked out the guild doors basket in tow to find her Natsu.

* * *

**Present with Wendy and Natsu**

"Oh, and what makes you think I'm going to tell you anything Wendy?" Natsu asked playfully though he found this new serious side to Wendy interesting to say the least.

"You don't have to tell me anything Natsu-kun not if you don't want to. I just wanted to have lunch with you and...And let you know that I'll always be here for you just like you always have been for me. You can tell me anything and that's bothering you and I promise I won't tell a soul." She finished embarrassed, looking down at her shoes.

"Wendy...thanks." Natsu said after a moment of silence.

"For what, Natsu-kun? Bringing you lunch?" Wendy asked genuinely curious.

"While bring me lunch is appreciated, I was talking about you being a fantastic friend to someone like me." Natsu said simply.

"What do you mean 'someone like you'? You are a great person Natsu, and don't you dare think otherwise!" the Wind Dragonslayer spoke, defending him from himself fiercely as if daring him to contradict her.

"Ah, if only that were true, I am not nearly as great as you've built me up to be I'm afraid." Natsu replied solemnly.

Wendy didn't understand what he meant; but then again, that was why she came here to begin with, to understand Natsu.

She spread the blanket on the ground and motioned for him to sit, he obliged her sitting across from her; and for a moment the two just looked each other in the eyes neither saying anything. Finally Wendy's new found courage seemed to fade as her face slowly turned several shades of red.

"S-so how a-about we have lunch now, Natsu-kun?" She stuttered out.

"Sure, why not. Oi, Carla would you mind waking up my moss gathering son?" Natsu asked the white Exceed.

"Of course, Natsu-san... WAKE UP BAKA!" Carla yelled at Happy startling him.

"Carla what are you doing here?" Happy asked happily.

"Having lunch with you and Natsu-san, now come on." Carla responded as she walked back towards Natsu and her adoptive daughter.

* * *

Once everyone was situated, Wendy past out the four sandwiches she had made. Tuna fish for Happy, potato salad for Carla, PB&J for herself, and the hottest things she could find stuffed in between some bread for Natsu.

It was only after she handed out the food that she realized she forgot to pack something for them to drink!

"Oh no, I was in such a hurry to find you, I forgot to pack drinks for all of us! I'm sorry Natsu-kun I guess I messed up..." Wendy said getting down on herself.

"It's fine Wendy; I have something we can drink actually." Natsu said with an odd grin on his face.

"Huh? But the only thing you constantly carry on you is...you're going to share some of _that _Natsu? What's the occasion?" Happy questioned as he looked at his father questioningly.

"She is willing to hear my sins Happy or at least some of them." Natsu answered ominously.

"EHHH! Are you serious?!" Natsu nodded "What exactly did I miss when I was out?" the blue cat questioned Carla an unusually serious expression on his face.

"Well Wendy decided that she wants to know what is going on with Natsu-san and is willing to keep whatever he tells her here a secret." Carla said slightly unnerved by the usually laidback cat's new demeanor.

"You know you don't have to tell her anything just because she asked right Natsu?" Happy said looking at his father worriedly.

"I'm aware of that Happy, but to ignore such a clear offer of kindness would be rude, don't you think?" Natsu said looking at his son.

"Yes I suppose it would." Happy said after a moment.

"Alright then; Wendy I will tell you what you want to know, but I will hold you to the promise you made when you entered this clearing you are to speak of what I am about to tell you to no one unless I give you my permission, understand?" Natsu said becoming serious in a way he never was outside of a fight.

"Hai, Natsu-kun I, Wendy Marvel daughter of both the Wind Dragon Grandeeney and Carla the Exceed, swear by my magic as a Dragonslayer that I will tell no one what you told me without your express permission, so mote be it." She intoned. There was a thrum in the air signifying her magic had accepted her oath.

"You-you didn't need to go that far Wendy...but thank you regardless." He said with a nod.

"What did she just do?" Carla asked curious.

"She swore an oath on her magic that she would tell no one what Natsu tells her here...on pain of death if she breaks her word." Happy said somewhat stunned at what the girl had done but at the same time, touched that she would go this far for his Father.

"EHH! WENDY HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO DANGEROUS!" Carla yelled at her daughter franticly.

"Calm down Carla-san, as long as she asks me before she tells anyone first, she is in no danger." Natsu said calmly.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU- Oh really? Well that's different then." Carla said calming down instantly, making Natsu sweatdrop.

"Right well before we get to it, Erza, Mirajane, would you like to join us?" Natsu called out into the trees.

* * *

The two S-class mages sheepishly came out of the trees, well Mirajane looked sheepish Erza just marched right up to them like she belonged there.

"Would you mind explaining to me why you two are spying on Wendy and me?" Natsu said evenly with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Well when Wendy-chan told me liked a certain someone as more than just Nakama, we decided to watch her cute little confession." Mirajane said happily.

"Oh, is that right?" Natsu said smirking while gazing at Wendy who was finding the ground very interesting at the moment.

"Well why don't the two of you join us for a drink we were about to have?" Natsu said casually.

"We would be glad to Natsu but first, I Erza Scarlet/Mirajane Strauss swear on my magic that I will reveal nothing told to me here unless given permission by one Natsu Dragneel, so mote be it." The two intoned at the same time before they sat down.

Natsu rubbed his eyes while saying "You're all insane and this proves it." Anyway, I am in serious need for a drink now, so..." without further ado, Natsu held up his palm a sphere of light enveloped it, and when it cleared he was holding a silver platter with a solid black wine bottle and several glasses carved out of crystal.

"Who's thirsty?" he asked.

"What is this Natsu-kun? I've never seen this before. Mirajane asked curious probably as she ran the bar.

This is an extremely rare vintage of wine Mirajane. So rare that it is spoken of in legends among wine drinkers. This is King's Blood.

"King's Blood, why is it called that?" Mira asked perplexed.

"Well according to legend, millennia ago there lived a corrupt empire that conquered the world and they constantly sacrificed slaves to their demonic masters in return for power. Eventually however, a rebellion happened and this Empire was overthrown. The leader of the rebellion in his rage and grief had their bodies ground into paste and mixed into several batches of grape wine, saying that as the blood of the innocent was spilled for their own power, their blood will be spilled for the pleasure of others." Natsu finished with a melancholy look on his face.

"I see." Mirajane said slightly unnerved by the story.

"Natsu I didn't know you knew how to requip." Erza stated surprised.

"There is quite a bit none of you know about me actually." Natsu said ominously.

"Oh, care to share?" Erza asked.

"Maybe, but for right now you will have to be satisfied with bits and pieces that I choose to tell you. Now, Wendy you came out here to find out why I was avoiding eye contact with you correct?" He asked the small girl.

"Yes Natsu-kun I would like to know why please." Wendy asked shyly.

"Well the simple answer is I had a nightmare and because of it, it hurt me to look at you." He said as he handed each of them a glass of the fabled King's Blood.

"I see, what was the nightmare about... if you don't mind my asking?" the Dragonslayer added quickly.

"It-was about my...very close friend Lyria. She was...killed right in front of me when I was younger, tortured to death really." He spoke in a cool monotone as if his mind was somewhere else, which it probably was.

"Tortured, by whom Natsu-kun?" Wendy asked in a quite whisper as her brown eyes widened in shock.

In response, Natsu swirled his glass of wine before taking a sip and saying "You remember the legend of the wine I told you just moments ago?"

Hesitantly Wendy and the other two mages nodded.

"Well what if I told you it was only part of a true story?" Natsu asked draining his glass in a single gulp.

The others were shocked into silence for a moment, the four who knew nothing of what was truly going on looked at each other briefly then nodded "We would say tell us more." Wendy said her resolve from earlier coming back, Taking a sip of the macabre wine which tasted somewhat bitter but it was also incredibly sweet to her yet not unpleasantly so.

"Ah, ah, ah, I told you I would tell you about the part pertaining to you, for now. The reason I cannot stand to look at you today Wendy is you look like an exact replica of Lyria. You look just like her, Earthland you even act just like she did; and seeing her body double yet knowing it's not really her is just...too painful." He finished lamely.

* * *

Wendy was in shock! She looked just like someone Natsu had seen killed in front of his eyes and if he wasn't joking with them which she could tell he wasn't, this happened several thousand years ago prior to recorded history!

'_Oh poor Natsu...what he must've gone through.' _Wendy thought to herself.

"I'm sorry Natsu." Wendy said kindly as she placed her hand on top of his comfortingly.

"You have nothing to apologize for Wendy in fact I should be apologizing to you. So, can you forgive me for being..." He paused as if searching for the right word "Standoffish?" He asked.

"Of course, it's no problem Natsu-kun." Wendy said with a smile.

"Good, well now that that's settled we should probably be heading back as the Ice Princess is probably itching for a fight, which Erza will likely need to break up, and Mirajane should probably get back to tending the bar." Natsu said as he banished the platter, glasses and bottle with a wave of his and stood up, offering Wendy his hand.

Once everyone was on their feet and the picnic packed away, they made their way back towards the guild, with Carla and Happy in the lead, Mira and Erza speaking quietly to one another behind them in hushed tones, and Natsu and Wendy taking up the rear.

"So...Natsu-kun huh, and what exactly did I do to merit being called that? Not that I mind of course." He asked curiously after a few minutes of walking in silence.

"Y-yes that's right and to answer your question Natsu_-kun _you are simply amazing." Wendy said as she turned redder and redder with each word yet putting emphasis on the affectionate suffix yet again.

"Wendy if you want to like me as, more than family I'm not going to lie it will not be easy as I have a graveyard full of skeletons in my closet and besides your only twelve while I'm...we I'm old enough let's just leave it at that." Natsu finished lamely.

"I realize I'm only twelve right now Natsu-kun however what I want right now is to be there for you in whatever way possible ok?" She asked looking at him with brown eyes full of concern.

"You're a good kid Wendy which is why I'm going to tell you something no one except Happy knows." Natsu whispered to her conspiratorially.

"What's that?" She asked becoming excited and leaning closer to him.

"My name...is Etherion. It's Etherion Endymion" He whispered into her ear making her stop dead.

Eyes wide she asked "Natsu-kun is that your real name?"

He nodded giving her a smile.

"Thank you for trusting me Nats- I mean, Etherion-kun." Wendy said giving him a hug.

"No problem Wendy, now c'mon let's get home." He said offering her his hand.

Taking it the two made their way out of the forest. All the while Wendy was thinking _'I will become strong for both me and for you, Etherion-kun. That way, you will never have to fear losing anyone such a terrible way ever again!' _she thought with fierce determination.

She knew two things for certain; she never wanted to see that dead eyed look on his face again, and she would do anything to ease his pain...anything.

* * *

**Chapter End**

**Chapter length: 5,495 – Date Completed: 3/3/13**

* * *

**AN: Yo what up people? This is Bubbajack here bringing you another Fairy Tail original fic idea, my other one being in the crossover section please see my profile for details. So not bad for being written in roughly 24 hours' huh or at least I think so. Anyway, this fic will be my answer to the question of "where did magic come from?" I mean 10% of the population can use magic NOW, but surely before now there must have been fewer people right? There must have been someone who for lack of a better term "discovered magic" Pioneered the subject so to speak? Well this is his story, which you will all learn in bits and pieces as we go along. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't mind that fact that I was a bit liberal with Wendy? I've always thought if she can be tough inside a fight with the right push she can be tough outside of one too...within reason of course. Anyway, till next time feel free to review and share your thoughts.**

**- Bubbajack out! Peace!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Etherion**

**By Bubbajack**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

**Ch.2: Chats in chains and reaving scythes... **

Natsu was frustrated. Not at anyone in particular in the guild, but specifically a certain person who was not here at the moment. Wendy and Lucy had taken a job together to get rid of a band of bandits plaguing a small town. It was an easy well-paying job for guilds like Fairy Tail and should've been simple to complete. It had been five days since the two left however and Natsu was beginning to grow concerned for his young friend as well as Lucy.

'_It's been five days, at best it should've taken them two or three to handle this job and get back here safely. That's it if they're not back here by noon I'm going looking for them.'_ The mage thought as paced inside his home, he glanced at the clock noting it was 10:30.

As 11 'o'clock neared Natsu became fidgety and decided to head over to the guild and see if they had returned.

When he entered the guildhall which was rowdy as always Natsu couldn't help but smile as he carefully made his way to the bar. Sitting down, he was soon greeted by the ever cheerful Mirajane. Smiling at her Natsu asked "Hello Mira-chan, have Wendy and Luce returned from that bandit mission yet?"

"Hi Natsu if that is your real name." She said jokingly.

She had been doing this for the past two weeks ever since that day in the clearing trying to get him to divulge his past and his real name to her but what she was most interested in was...his cooking skills. Yes indeed Mirajane prided herself on many things being a member of Fairy Tail, Being an S-class mage, but most of all she took pride in her cooking skills, as seeing everyone happy while eating her food made her happy too. Then out of the blue comes Natsu of all people and he was better than her! Mirajane was not jealous though nope not one bit...

'_Oh who am I kidding of course I'm jealous!'_ Mira thought to herself angrily. _'Maybe if I just ask him...no I have my pride for magic's sake!'_ the white haired mage thought stubbornly.

Her thoughts were interrupted by "Natsu" calling her name. "Hmm, Yes Natsu-kun what is it?"

"I said have Wendy and Lucy come back yet?" Natsu asked sounding agitated.

"I, no they haven't Natsu. Sorry for not paying attention." Mirajane said kindly.

She knew over the past two weeks that he and Wendy had become closer. The little blue haired mage was always sitting with him chatting amicably with him at the guildhall, or cheering him on in his brawls with Grey as well as healing him up afterwards. It was so cute in Mirajane's mind they acted like an older brother and younger sister for the most part, but she saw how protective Wendy was of Natsu these days, especially around Grey; while Natsu for his part would constantly go out of his way to do nice little things for her. Like help her with her confidence problem or train in her offensive Dragonslayer techniques. She also had a feeling she wasn't the only one who noticed, as Lisanna had been rather depressed of late and she had a feeling call it older sister's intuition; that her younger sister had seen one such display of between the two.

'_I may need to talk with Lisanna soon.' _Mirajane thought before she retuned her attention back to Natsu.

"Sorry Mira I didn't mean to snap at you it's just the two of them should've been back days ago by now it was a simple job and it wasn't too far away either." Natsu grumbled.

"It's alright Natsu I understand your just worried is all." Mira responded kindly.

"If they are not back by noon I'm going to go looking for them." Natsu told her simply to which Mira just nodded.

"Natsu do you think you could do me a favor?" Mira asked suddenly having an idea spring to mind.

"Sure what is it Mira-chan?" Natsu asked kindly.

Ignoring the slight blush that crept upon her face and hoping Natsu didn't notice she said "When you go to look for Wendy and Lucy-chan could you take Lisanna with you? She's been in a mood lately and I think perhaps a trip with you would fix her right up." The S-class bartender said.

"Sure I could use some backup just in case anyway." Natsu said after a moment.

Mirajane smiled at him gratefully and promptly left to inform her sister of her outing.

* * *

Natsu was waiting for Lisanna at the entrance to the guild when she finally showed up Natsu thought she was looking a bit haggard, as her hair was messy, her clothes wrinkled as if she had slept in them, and there were dark circles under her eyes indicating she hadn't been sleeping well recently. Growing concerned for the girl, Natsu asked "Lisanna, are you feeling alright?"

"Yes Never better Natsu, why do you ask?" she replied cheerily.

"No reason; now before we head out, did Mira tell you where you and I were heading?" he asked her as he didn't want her going in blind and getting herself hurt.

"No Mira-nee just said you needed my help with something, so what's the job?" She asked curious.

"Possible search and rescue mission. Wendy and Lucy have been out on what should've been a two to three day mission for five days now and I am beginning to grow concerned for the both of them, particularly the half-pint." Natsu said worriedly.

"We're searching for Wendy and Lucy-chan?" Lisanna asked with a subtle tinge of distaste in her tone Natsu nodded.

"That's right those two should've been back days ago and now you and I are gonna go see what's taking them so long. Sound good?" he asked giving his childhood friend a winning smile.

"Sure. Let's get going Natsu the sooner we get there the sooner we can get back." Lisanna said stiffly before she made her way down the street towards the train station.

Natsu watched her go _thinking 'What's wrong with her? The moment I brought up Wendy she got all bent outta shape...Sweet Mavis, please don't tell me she's jealous? Naw not Lisanna she's too kind, not to mention mature; to be jealous of little Wendy. _Natsu thought to himself, before glancing at her rigid posture as she stomped down the street.

'_Then again I have been known to have that effect on women.' _He thought before muttering to himself "Why do I have a feeling this mission is going to end weirdly for me?" before hurrying to catch up with the fleeing girl...

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia was being reminded of her treatment by Gajeel when he was still a member of Phantom Lord over the past three days as she lay chained to a wall, beaten and bruised. This wasn't a new experience to her, however being completely _**naked**_ while being chained to a wall and covered in bruises _**was**_. Right across from here equally as naked and bruised and clothes less was Wendy, restrained with magic absorbing cuffs. She had a look of fierce determination on her face one that the bandits had been unable to beat out of her no matter what they did.

'_I thought this was supposed to be an easy job. Yeah right; this is as easy as pulling teeth.'_ Lucy thought bitterly. As she thought back to how they got into this mess...

* * *

_Both Wendy and I arrived at the small town of Innsmouth just a thirty minute train ride from Magnolia town. The place was in shambles. Instead of nice homes and children playing out in the street, the houses were covered in scorch marks and bullet holes with most of the windows of the houses shattered. Lucy could see people eying her fearfully from their homes watching them warily for any signs of violent intent._

'_These poor people, they don't deserve this. I thought as we made their way to the heavily boarded up building that supposedly served as the mayor's office, which was as ramshackle as the rest of the buildings. After convincing the Mayor, a fat balding man who seemed to perspire constantly, that we were indeed not bandits but mages from Fairy Tail here to help, he told us that the bandits had been treating the town like their personal playground and had been kidnapping the women and treating the men like targets at a shooting range. Wendy and I, as women didn't take the information of females being kidnapped well; and swore to the mayor that they would rescue their female population, much to his relief._

_So we headed off into the woods where the bandits seemed to constantly come from in hopes of finding their base of operations. They found the trail easily enough and everything seemed fine...that is until we were jumped from the trees. I was quickly overwhelmed and disarmed of my keys, and held at knifepoint while Wendy was told if she didn't surrender they would slit my throat. The youngest Dragonslayer of Fairy Tail had no choice but to agree and they placed some kind of magic blocking handcuffs on her wrists, before leading both of us into a rather decrepit looking stone fort deep in the forest._

_The whole time Wendy didn't say anything; I thought she was afraid but the look in her eyes as they were forced to kneel before the supposed leader of the bandits, a large man using a bone white deer's skull as a helmet, covered in patchwork leather armor with bit of plate mail here and there sitting on a makeshift thrown of tree limbs and furs leering at the two of us like the lecher he probably was, Wendy's gaze was full of not fear, but defiance. _

"_My, my" the leader spoke his voice sounding oily and lecherous "What do we have here? A blonde bombshell and a little girl, quite the odd pair you two make. But then again with mages from Fairy Tail one can never be too careful ne?" he asked nodding towards Lucy's stamped hand._

"_If you know we're from Fairy Tail then you should know that our friends will come for us eventually." I told the bandit leader._

"_I'm looking forward to it my dear as it is well know that Fairy Tail has some of the most beautiful women around and sex slave traders like ourselves would surely love to get our hands on some of the finest goods in all of Fieore ." he said smiling evilly._

'_Sex slave traders!' I thought frantically worrying more over Wendy than myself as I saw the girl as a little sister and would hate for her to be subjected to such things at such a young impressionable age._

_Wendy however just stared at the slave trader defiantly saying nothing. This caused the man to chuckle darkly and said "Well you look like you have something you want to say child, and I'm in a good mood so go ahead and say it." When Wendy remained silent he prompted her "Go on girl humor me speak."_

"_Natsu..." She spoke lowly, making both myself and the bandit look at her curiously._

"_Natsu he's the fire mage called the Salamander correct? What about him?" he asked._

"_He will come for us, and when he does...I'm going to look forward to hearing you beg for mercy, though I don't think he'll give you any." Wendy said dead serious while looking into the enslavers eyes._

_All was silent at the little girls' proclamation for a moment and then the man began to laugh madly upon his throne. _

"_BWAHAHAHAH! I'm looking forward to fighting the infamous Salamander then child." He then turned to one of the bandit's behind them and said "Break them."..._

* * *

Lucy remembered vividly what happened next. They we were both then stripped of all of their clothes in front of the entire camp and were forced down to this piece of crap cell chained to the wall. They both smelled awful as they were left to stew in their own excrement, and they hadn't been given any food or water in all this time either. Every few hours, a man would come in and inflict new bruises on them and agitating the old ones as well as preventing them from getting adequate amounts of sleep.

"I hope your right Wendy." Lucy spoke to herself not expecting an answer "Natsu will save us Lucy, I know he will." The little girl said back to her resolutely.

"Your right Wendy-chan Natsu is, well he's Natsu. He always saves people who are in trouble." Lucy said remembering the time she threw herself off of Phantom Lord's flying fortress with her hands tied behind her back yelling his name somehow knowing he would save her.

"Yes that's Natsu alright." Wendy said wistfully as she thought about how hard he fought to save her former guild Cait Shelter from Nirvana and Zero.

Wendy decided to suddenly ask a question "Lucy, how do you feel about Natsu?"

"EEH! What do you mean Wendy?" The blonde asked quickly.

"I mean do you think of Natsu-kun like a friend...or more?" Wendy asked simply.

"I-well-I...I have had a small crush on Natsu ever since he saved me from Gajeel when he was still in Phantom Lord some time ago. However he only sees me as Nakama, as family. Plus, with Lisanna back from Edolas now I highly doubt he would go out with me if I asked." Lucy said sounding frustrated with the entire situation.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that Lucy." Wendy said after a moment's pause.

"Eh, what do you mean Wendy?" Lucy asked perplexed.

"Natsu isn't dating Lisanna at the moment..." she trailed off and Lucy could see she cheeks glowing red in the darkness of their dank cell.

"Oh? Who's he seeing then?" Lucy asked curious as rumor around the guild Natsu had a secret girlfriend, but no one had met her yet.

"Well...Natsu-kun and I have been seeing each other recently..." Wendy said shyly.

* * *

All was silent for a moment and then Lucy exploded. "WHAT?! BUT YOU'RE ONLY TWELVE WENDY; YOU'RE TOO YOUNG FOR-FOR-THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN A RELATIONSHIP! AND WHAT IS NATSU DOING DATING A TWELVE YEAR OLD ANYWAY? IS HE SOME KIND OF LOLICON OR SOMETHING?!" Lucy shouted going from surprised to worried to angry at Natsu all in the space of a few seconds.

"Lucy-san calm down. First off, it was me who asked Natsu-kun out and he made it perfectly clear that for now, we are to remain just good friends with each other and I'm fine with that." She said pausing and taking a deep breath before continuing.

"Secondly, I am w-well aware of what happens when a relationship reaches a certain point, but I also know I'm far too young to do them, well most of them safely without injury to myself. Also I know Natsu would never take advantage of me he's too kind for that. Finally, what's wrong with liking a girl younger than you?" she asked though her face was cherry red.

"I umm well nothing I suppose, it's just the idea of an eighteen year old dating a twelve year old is all." Lucy said simply.

"Yes I suppose so." Wendy said with a slight chuckle as Natsu had all but confirmed weeks ago her was far, far older than he looked. So really no matter how old she got, it would still be considered lolicon if you compared her age at any time to his age.

"Why did you ask me how I felt about Natsu anyway Wendy?" Lucy asked curious.

"How much do you know about dragons Lucy?" she replied answering her question with a question.

"Not a thing, but what does that have to do with this?" she asked.

"A lot actually, you see in dragon culture, male dragon's horde as much gold and jewels as they can in hopes of attracting numerous females to mate with." Wendy explained.

"I see, go on." Lucy said after moments of letting the information sink in.

"Well, when a dragon forms his roost or lair if you will with many females he becomes fiercely protective of them and his horde, as other dragons may try and defeat him in combat and claim the males' horde and possibly his women for his own. Males challenging each other has two purposes, increasing the winners own horde and by increasing his horde he will attract more women with a larger horde, also female dragons are attracted to strength and if their mate is beaten they will likely leave them for the victor. Do you understand?" the Wind Dragonslayer asked.

"Wow I had no idea that Dragon society was so...brutal. But what does this have to do with your question?" she asked after a moment.

"Well Dragonslayers like me were raised under the mentality of sharing one man with many other women...so if you wanted to date him too, I wouldn't mind really." Wendy said becoming quieter near the end.

"EHH, are you serious?" Lucy yelled out as Wendy's outline nodded in the dark.

"I really don't mind sharing him, but you should know a couple of things first." Wendy said hesitantly.

"What is it Wendy-chan?" Lucy asked concerned at her sudden change of mood.

"I'm not sure how much I can actually tell you Lucy, as I swore an oath on my magic that I wouldn't tell anyone anything without his permission, but I can tell you that Natsu is more than he appears...much more." Wendy finished ominously.

'_Wendy swore an oath on her magic not to talk about something Natsu told her? It must be serious.' _She thought.

"Alright then, I won't press you Wendy-chan I'll just ask Natsu when he comes to get us." She said cheering up slightly.

"Sounds good but first thing I plan on doing when we get out of here is taking a nice long bath! This stench is killing me!" Wendy complained.

"Agreed" Lucy said with a nod, just then they heard footsteps leading towards their door and both Fairy Tail mages stopped and listened. Suddenly their cell door was flung open and a thug carrying a torch dragged in a familiar face...

* * *

"Lisanna!" Both mages shouted as the bandit chained the naked girl to the wall next to Lucy before leaving them in the gloom of the dungeon.

"Lisanna what are you doing here?" Wendy asked concerned for her wellbeing.

"Yeah and did they hurt you?" Lucy asked the youngest Strauss sibling.

"I'm here to help rescue the two of you...Natsu was concerned when you didn't come back after all this time and decided to check up on you Wendy." Lisanna said sadly.

"Natsu is with you?" Wendy asked excitedly.

"Yes he came all this way just because he was concerned about his twelve year old girlfriend!" Lisanna said sounding angry all of the sudden.

"Lisanna..." Lucy tried to say but the white haired girl didn't seem to hear her and continued on.

"I don't get it Wendy, I really don't. I've known Natsu for years, YEARS before you and even Lucy did and yet somehow instead of picking his childhood friend, or even someone his own age he chooses to rob the cradle! So tell me what you did that no one, not even me thought of for him to agree to date you?!" She shouted at the girl.

"Are you finished Strauss-san?" Wendy asked being incredibly formal.

"Yes." The other girl practically hissed.

"Good then be quiet and listen. I nothing and I mean _**nothing**_ to Natsu to convince him to date me. That was his choice and his alone. I do not like the fact that you insinuated I did something to make him go out with me either. However, I'm going to let that go as you were venting. Now, as I just finished telling Lucy, it is customary among Dragons for one male dragon to have multiple female mates; as I myself was raised by a dragon, I would not be opposed to s-sharing him with you." Wendy said almost completely calmly.

"Sharing him? Wha-"Lisanna began before Wendy cut her off.

"However if that is to happen there can be no infighting amongst the females who love Natsu. If I let you in on this you need to be able to get along with both myself and possibly others as well without jealously. Can you do that?" Wendy asked her seriously.

"I-I can try." She responded after several minutes.

"That's all I can ask of anyone really." Wendy said.

"So, what now?" Lucy asked.

"We wait. Natsu will be along to save us shortly I expect." Wendy responded.

"You think Natsu can take all those guys by himself? If they were regular bandits I'd agree but they have lacrima powered guns Wendy, and there are at least thirty of them and only one Natsu." Lisanna pointed out.

"Natsu will be just fine, you'll see." Wendy said as she began staring at the door as if waiting for him to appear by magic...

* * *

Natsu was annoyed. First, he had to pretend to fake sick on the way over here on the train with someone he would rather be honest with, then when he and Lisanna got here they had to spend too much time in his opinion trying to convince the coward of a mayor that they were searching for their friends and not some more bandits here to kill him, finally he goes to scout ahead to see if he can catch a bandit unaware and "ask" him some questions which he does, only to come back and find Lisanna gone!

'_Likely she was kidnapped by the bandits if the state of the ground is any indication.' _He thought as a trail showed several pairs of boots entering the clearing where he had left her from the east then a brief struggle ensued as several bodily imprints were made on the ground proving that Lisanna put up a good fight but was eventually overwhelmed and dragged east backwards if her heels scraping the soft earth were any indication.

"So I need to save three of my friends, three of my female friends from a group of sex-slave training and trading bandits fifty strong armed with lacrima-powered weapons? Fantastic, I could use the exercise." Natsu said grinning slightly.

If there was one thing the mage hated be his name Etherion Endymion or Natsu Dragneel it was slavers he could thank the Imperium for ingraining that hatred into him since birth. With this thought in mind and realizing he was alone, he decided to cut loose a bit. He held out his hand and one flash of light later there was an immaculate staff in his hand. It was covered in blue leather and brass with a butt-spike and a hooked crescent-moon like blade protruding from the top covered in archaic runes with a pitch black lacrima floating in between that had a strange symbol within it. An upside-down triangle with a hole in the center and three half-circle marks near each point making them seem detached.

This was Etherion's personal weapon back from the Uprising and the first example of all holder magic it was his staff, _**Enaid Medelwr **_in the old tongue or "Soul Reaver" in today's dialect.

'_I really hate this thing, but not using it against bandit scum feels wrong somehow.' _The mage thought to him as he grasped the leather-bound handle and gave it a few swings, refamiliarizing himself with its weight.

"Ok then let's get started..." Natsu said as he walked calmly down the path towards the slavers base whistling a tune all the while...

* * *

Bob was a bandit he had been all his life ever since he was sixteen and he realized that the laws and rules that everyone else tried to live by and the Rune Knights enforced were simply shackles, chaining common people like him to lives of servitude to those who made the laws and held all the real power in life. So Bob decided he was no longer going to play by anyone else's rules and became a bandit eventually falling in with Lockjaw and his crew of sex slave traders.

Bob was currently on the lookout for some mage called the "Salamander" who was supposed to be really reckless and enjoyed blowing things up.

'_He should be easy to spot.'_ The bandit thought to himself as he kept his eyes peeled lazily on the road leading to their rundown fort. Suddenly Bob spotted something making its way casually down the path towards him. It was a man covered in a black cloak carrying what appeared to be some kind of fancy scythe. Thinking he had found himself some easy loot Bob made his way over to the hunched figure and asked sarcastically "You alright old man? You don't look so good. Maybe you should take a load off huh?"

"Me, I'm fine but you..." Suddenly the "old man" swiftly stood and spun the scythe whose blade had suddenly been covered in a green ethereal glow, and slashed across his body. Bob felt extremely cold then, and the air it felt like lead, he looked at the strangers' scythe only to see a ghostly version of himself impaled upon the blade while screaming in silent agony and slowly spiraling, collapsing inwards on itself and being sucked into the green light...

"You're dead." Natsu spoke as the bandit hit the ground his own soul being ripped from his body and being devoured by his malicious staff.

'_I need to hurry I only have five minutes till this thing kills me.' _Natsu thought looking at his staff with slight distain.

With this thought in mind, Natsu faced the solid oak doors of the old fort he muttered a single word in the Old Tongue **"Agor."**

With that the massive doors smoothly swung inwards and he stepped inside the slavers base of operations.

"Let the symphony of the damned commence." He said as he quickly muttered a few words in the Old Tongue and tapped his scythe on the ground, causing large gouts of flame to erupt and gain the attention of the entire camp however the flames instead of dying down took shape, and formed into some kind of beast made out of burning rock and fire. It had a mane made of flames on its back and was as large as a horse with a skeletal appearance. It looked like a hound from hell...which ironically enough is exactly what it was.

Natsu eyed the Hellhound for a moment and then spoke to it in the Old Tongue **"Mae pob rhai yr ydych yn gweld yma arfog, yn rhydd i wneud cais am y rhai a gaethiwyd Fodd bynnag, nid i gael eu cyffwrdd, eu deall?**

The beast looked back at him once then gave a deep growl and a nod signifying acceptance of its orders.

"**Yna hela da." **He said to the beast as it gave a mighty howl which would be the death knell of many a bandit that day...

* * *

Lucy, Wendy, and Lisanna looked up toward the ceiling as dust fell from a shudder felt from above.

"What was that?" Lucy wondered aloud.

"It's Natsu." Wendy said as if it should be obvious.

"Natsu? You don't actually think...wait this is Natsu of course he would fight his way to us." Lucy said with a laugh to which the others joined in.

"I'm sure he'll be here shortly, now all we have to do is wait for him to arrive. I won't be long now." Wendy said almost knowingly.

The other two nodded and began starring expectantly at the door as Wendy had been doing ready to greet their hero...

* * *

Natsu made his way quickly through the old fortress swiftly slaying the occasional bandit when they refused to tell him where the slaves were held. He had made his way deeper into the old fort when he was suddenly surrounded by half a dozen men armed with lacrima powered machine guns.

One of them stepped forward with a smirk and said to his cohorts "Well look what we have here boys a lone mage who thinks he can topple Lockjaws' operation all on his own, let's show him what happens to people who think they can get in our way!" he said raising his gun the others doing the same with evil smirks plastered on their faces.

"Any last words, punk?" the lead bandit asked cockily.

"Yeah..." Natsu said before he disappeared only to reappear right in front of the mouthy bandit with his scythe raised in the air, glowing, and ready to strike "...You talk too much." He said before he swung downwards severing the man's souls' ties to its body.

Spinning on his heel, Natsu swung his weapon and claimed the lives of three more men before they could even react. The last two finally managed to open fire on the mage, only to have him tap the butt of his weapon on the floor and have himself defended by a wall of solid rock coming out of the ground and proving him cover. While he was behind cover Natsu checked his watch which hung from his scythe by a chain. It was counting down from five minutes; currently it was at three minutes and forty-five seconds.

'_Shit I gotta hurry.'_ Natsu thought as he started sweating slightly and his breathing became a labored.

Rolling out from behind his makeshift cover, Natsu flung his scythe at one of his two remaining assailants, managing to strike one with the ethereal blade leaving just him and one other scared little man as Natsu caught his returning scythe by the handle.

"Please leave me alone! I'll tell you whatever you want to know just don't bring that thing near me!" the bandit begged on his knees.

"Tell me where the prisoners are being kept." Natsu said fiercely, picking up the man by the scruff of his shirt.

"The Dungeons we keep them in the dungeons! Now you'll let me go right?" he asked hopefully.

"I promised no such thing." Natsu said before he rammed his blade into the horrified face of the man.

"Now, to find the girls." Natsu said making his way towards the lower levels of the fort... or he did until he ran across what could only be the armory. After a bit of snooping around, Natsu found not only Lucy's keys, but also a few crates full of lacrima. With a simply evil idea springing to mind, Natsu got to work...

* * *

Wendy and the others listened as they heard screams and men begging for mercy most of which were abruptly cut off, out in the corridor and the sound of heavy things hitting the floor. Suddenly there door was flung open and in walked Natsu with one of his hands set ablaze and being used as a makeshift lantern.

"Yo, miss me?" he asked upon seeing who was inside.

"NATSU!" All three girls yelled happily at once.

"Are you all ok they didn't ...you know... did they?" He asked.

It took the girls a moment to figure out what he meant and when they did they all blushed.

"N-n-no Natsu-kun they didn't do _th-that_ to us thank goodness. They did however beat on Lucy and I pretty good while we were here though." Wendy said blushing madly.

A growl of annoyance escaped Natsu's throat when he heard that and then he promptly melted chains, freeing three girls from the walls.

Once they were free, Natsu briefly disappeared outside and then came back in with copies of their usual outfits. It was then that the three realized that Natsu had probably seen everything there was to see about each of them. Red-faced, the girls accepted the clothing but as Natsu turned to leave Lucy asked "Natsu, what are you doing with copies of out outfits and where did you get them?"

"I keep them around in case of an emergency, now hurry up and get dressed." Natsu said.

"Yeah but where did you-" She began only to be cut off.

"MAGIC, NOW LET'S GO!" He shouted before leaving them to change...

* * *

By the time the girls left their cell now fully clothed, Natsu had finished shepherding the rest of the women out of their cells. Standing in front of the large scared group he called out "Alright everyone, listen up. I've pretty much taken care of all the bandits so if everyone would slowly and carefully make their way outside, we can see about getting you all home. Sound good?" he asked, receiving many nods and muttered thanks in return for his daring rescue Natsu led the way out of the dungeons, past several clearly dead bodies, and into the massive foyer of the fort.

Once everyone had arrived, Natsu blew the doors off there hinges with a blast of fire and then walked out into the courtyard that was littered with scorched human remains and smelled strongly of human flesh making some of the prisoners gag and wretch.

"What happened out here?" Lucy asked as she tried hard not to dry heave.

"He did." Was Natsu's response, pointing to a horse sized flaming dog seemingly made of molten rock and fire.

"Wha-what the hell is that thing?" Lucy asked scared, while Wendy growled at the beast and Lisanna spoke in hushed tones "A Hellhound, something I've only seen in old texts of some of Mira-oneechan's books. They are said to be the collectors of souls for those who make contracts with demons, or so I've heard." The white haired girl whispered in a tone filled with equal amounts awe and fear.

The beast of the underworld suddenly perked its head up from where it was gorging itself on a dead body, growled and stalked towards the newcomers.

Or it did until Natsu spoke in a foreign tongue to it, saying "**Atal bwgan a chofiwch eich archebion!" **making the thing of nightmare halt in its tracks, cock its head to the side as if confused, and then nod and Natsu once before sitting on its haunches.

Then Natsu spoke again in the unknown language, saying **"Bytheiad, diolch i chi am eich gwasanaethau, efallai y byddwch yn awr yn cymryd eich ysbail a gadael." **As his brow ran with sweat and he fell to one knee but never lost eye contact with the beast.

The monster eyed Natsu for a moment then extended one of its forepaws forewords and bent the other backward while lowering its head into what was unmistakably a bow towards the Dragonslayer. Then it straightened up and gave a mighty howl and the flames on its body flickered and died as if blown out by a strong wind while what was left of its body crumbled to dust.

Natsu then reached up with a shaky hand and grasped a stopwatch attached to a staff none of them had ever seen before and hit a button ceasing its countdown at thirty-seven seconds, before he sat on the ground and started sucking in copious amounts of air.

"Natsu-kun, are you ok?" Wendy asked him worriedly while rushing to his side.

"I'm fine Wendy, just give me a moment to catch my breath and we can head back to town alright?" he asked panting.

"Alright." The young girl said worriedly while staring at her friend's staff.

'What' going on with you now, Etherion-kun?' she thought to herself worriedly as her friend gasped on the ground...

* * *

**Chapter End**

**Length: 5,984 - Date completed: 3/11/13**

* * *

**AN: Here's chapter two guys. I thought it was running a little long so I actually ended up shortening it a bit and will be adding the next part as the first chunk of the next chapter. Basically what that means is Etherion Ch.3 is already one-third of the way done as I like to keep these things around the 5k mark. If you enjoyed the chapter please feel free to review and tell me how I did.**

**Oh and before I forget here's a glossary for those of you who either can't read Welsh or who don't feel like looking it up in google translate like I did:**

**Enaid Medelwr- Soul Reaver**

**Agor- **Open

"**Mae pob rhai yr ydych yn gweld yma arfog, yn rhydd i wneud cais am y rhai a gaethiwyd Fodd bynnag, nid i gael eu cyffwrdd, eu deall?- **All those you see here armed, are free to claim the enslaved ones however are not to be touched, understood?

**Yna hela da.-** Then good hunting.

**Atal bwgan a chofiwch eich archebion!- **Stop spectre and remember your orders!**Bytheiad, Diolch i chi am eich gwasanaethau, efallai y byddwch yn awr yn cymryd eich ysbail a gadael.- **Hound, Thank you for your services, you may now take your spoils and depart.

**Till next time everyone, stay cool, stay sexy, and stay alive and away from the undead menace! Bubbajack out! Peace!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Etherion**

**By Bubbajack**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

**Ch.3: Questions and hard answers...**

Twenty minutes or so later Natsu was feeling well enough to move and everyone made their way back to town. Natsu was given a hero's welcome and the mayor insisted on paying him in cash. All Natsu really wanted however was a place to take a bath and sleep for the night which the mayor happily provided in the form of his cities best hotel room.

"Thank goodness, I thought those guys were never gonna leave me alone!" Natsu complained loudly before sitting down in an overstuffed chair in the hotel suite.

"I know I thought the mayor was gonna shake your arm off Natsu." Lisanna joked.

"Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm taking a long hot bath." Lucy said marching into the deluxe sized tiled bathroom that had a tub big enough to seat five people.

"That sounds great, mind if I join you?" Wendy asked.

"Sure, how about you Lisanna?" Lucy asked her.

"I think a bath sounds nice right about now." She said.

Lucy then turned to Natsu and said "Natsu could you leave while we get changed please?"

"Why?" He asked sounding genuinely confused.

"It's because it's inappropriate to see a woman changing that's why!" Lucy yelled at him irate.

"I know that Luce, but I've already seen the three of you naked so what's the big deal if I see you all change if I've already seen you naked?" he asked causing all three girls to blush as they were reminded that he had indeed already seen everything there was to see when it came to them.

"I-um-I-you- YOU PERVERT!" The blonde eventually yelled at him.

"Pevert? I'm not a pervert Lucy." Natsu said calmly.

"If you're not a pervert for wanting to see us naked, then what are you?" Lucy asked confused.

"A lecher." Natsu responded evenly.

"THAT'S NOT ANY BETTER NATSU!" Lucy yelled at the fire mage.

"I beg to differ; a pervert is some creepy weirdo stalker who doesn't have the guts to talk to the girl he likes..." Natsu said.

"And a lecher?" Wendy asked.

"A lecher is someone..." Natsu began as he slowly made his way towards Wendy and the other girls before kneeling down to Wendy's height and whispering loud enough for everyone to hear "...Who gets to know the girl he likes well before gets what he wants." He said before making his way out the door of the hotel room leaving all the girls red faced...

* * *

Natsu found himself back in front of the decrepit fort, his sole reason for coming back here was to completely finish off this place and so he put his plan from earlier into action. Making his way back towards the armory, Natsu got into the lacrima he found from before, and began to slowly make a trail of lacrima from the armory to the courtyard. Placing the last one, Natsu gave one last look to the old place before he shot a gout of flame at the closest lacrima, setting off a chain reaction of lacrima explosions leading all the way back to the armory which sent the place sky high when that finally blew. Thankfully Natsu was watching from a safe distance as that happened.

"One less den of evil in the world now." Natsu said to himself as he made his way back to town. He never noticed the pair of eyes glaring at him hatefully from the trees however...

* * *

When he returned to the hotel room, he was immediately glomped by Wendy and almost lost his balance. Righting himself he asked "Is everything ok Half-pint?"

"Please don't call me that Natsu-kun and I was worried because we heard an explosion out near the fort a little bit ago. Was that you?" She asked.

"Yeah that was me; I was just blowing the place to kingdom come is all. Oh and Lucy? You forgot these." Natsu said fishing her keys out of his pants pocket and tossing them to her.

"My Keys, I forgot all about them! Oh Aquarius is gonna kill me for forgetting them! Thanks for picking them up Natsu!" She said giving her still secret crush a hug.

"No problem-"he began only to be cut off by one of Lucy's keys opening a gate and Aquarius showing up in all her enraged glory moments later.

"You dumb blonde baka! She yelled at Lucy "How many times do I have to drowned you till you learn not to drop your keys?! The Celestial spirit asked angrily.

"I'm sorry but I was jumped by bandits and-"Lucy began only to be cut off by her irate spirit.

"Excuses, it's always excuses with you! You are a Stellar Spirit Mage the first rule of being that kind of mage is that you don't get separated from your keys ever! You know this!" Aquarius chastised.

"I know but"- Lucy said weakly only to be cut off again.

"No buts Blondie! I and several other zodiac spirits have entrusted you with our keys and you keep screwing up! So give me one good reason why I shouldn't take my key back and convince the others to do the same?" the Mermaid asked harshly.

"That's enough Water Bearer!" Natsu said standing in front of Lucy and glaring at the Celestial Spirit.

"And just who are you to tell me what to do brat?" She asked arching her eyebrow at Natsu.

"**Myfi sy'n cael ei hela gan y nefoedd, yn ofni ac yn casáu gan uffern, ac yn melltithio i fyw dragwyddol."**Natsu responded using that same strange language from earlier.

This response, whatever it was; made Aquarius's eyes widen in surprise and then in fear. "Y-you? Is it really..." she asked her voice full of fear.

Natsu only nodded and then said "Go home and speak of this to no one...also I'm sorry for scaring you, but you shouldn't go around talking to Luce like that it isn't nice, understand?" he asked in a kinder tone of voice.

"Hai!" Aquarius said in a high pitched voice full of fear before she disappeared in a flash of light.

Natsu then gave a long drawn out sigh, and made his way towards one of the beds in the room.

"Natsu wait, what was all that about?" Lucy asked perplexed as to why one of her most strong-willed spirits turned into a blubbering mass of jelly.

"It's nothing don't worry about it." Natsu said neutrally as he lay down with his back to them clearly indicating he would say no more on the subject...

* * *

The train ride home was tense, as Lucy wanted answers and Natsu refused to answer questions, and neither was willing to budge.

"But why can't you tell me?" Lucy begged like a kid wanting a new toy and who wouldn't stop whining till she got it.

"I won't tell you for several reasons Luce. One you don't need to know, two it happened a really long time ago so it isn't all that relevant, and three if I told you why it would not only take quite a while to explain, but it may well change your opinion of me, and I don't want that." Natsu finished looking into her eyes.

Natsu...alright fine you don't have to tell me about that if you don't want to, but care to answer something else for me? She asked.

"Sure what is it? He asked.

"Why is it that you haven't gotten motion sick the entire time you've been on the train?" she asked with a devious smirk.

Natsu's eyes widened and he stuttered out "I uh-I-um drank some Pepto-Bismol?" he said lamely.

Lucy shook her head slowly that smile still on her face before saying "No you didn't you've been with us the entire time. So this brings up two possible conclusions either A. You have grown weaker as a Dragonslayer, which I highly doubt, or B. you were never a Dragonslayer in the first place, and considering you had that staff earlier and somehow managed to attain spare sets of our clothes, I'm going to assume the former rather than the latter. Am I right? She asked.

After a moment Natsu spoke lowly almost a whisper saying "yes" before he continued "But just because you know I'm not a Dragonslayer doesn't mean I'm going to automatically tell you everything." Natsu said looking her in the eyes defiantly.

"That's fine Natsu, besides, I love a good mystery." Lucy said looking at Natsu like he was a new book just waiting to be read.

"Natsu-kun I have a question of my own if you don't mind?" Wendy asked.

"Go ahead in fact everybody gets to ask one question which I will answer as honestly as I can alright?" he said looking at the girls who nodded in response.

Wendy went first "About that staff of yours, why did it have a countdown timer on it?"

"That's a toughie right out of the gate, but the short answer is if that timer had hit zero I would've died." Natsu responded calmly.

"WHAT?! All three girls yelled in shock. What do you mean you would've died Natsu?! Wendy asked concerned.

"I mean that if that counter had hit zero my staff would've killed me plain and simple as that." Natsu said.

"But why, why would you use something like that?" Wendy asked with tears in her eyes as she looked a Natsu.

"Because Wendy...You, Lisanna, and Lucy were in danger of the worst kind for a woman. I was not willing to hold back or take in chances in that kind of situation." Natsu said firmly. After several minutes of awkward silence Lisanna asked "If you're not a Dragonslayer then what type of magic do you use?"

Natsu turned to face them and said "That is...a rather complicated question to answer; I guess the best answer I could give would be First Origin."

"First Origin magic, I've never heard of that is it a lost magic?" Lisanna asked.

"Sorry but you asked what my magic was not what it did, last question." He said turning to Lucy, who was deep in thought.

'_Should I ask him about Aquarius? No he'd probably just twist it around on me. I know I'll ask him...'_

"Why did you not care if you died rescuing us?" Lucy finally said after several minutes.

"Did? What makes you think I still don't care if I die using that staff?" he said with a smile as the train finally came to a halt at the station.

All the girls were looking at Natsu wide-eyed and shocked. Shocked at the fact he could say such a thing so calmly. After a moment or two of complete silence Natsu said "Just kidding."

By the time Natsu got off the train he was covered in bruises and scratch and slap marks yet he couldn't help but think _'It's better this way.' _As he followed three irate women back to Fairy Tail.

* * *

The girls entered Fairy Tail, before Natsu and took a seat at the bar much to everyone's surprise.

"Hello, welcome back you three!" Mirajane greeted kindly, until she noticed a certain pinkette was missing. "Where is Natsu?" she asked.

"Who cares where that baka is?" Lucy said angrily to which Wendy and Lisanna nodded in agreement.

"Hmm, did something happen between you three and Natsu?" Mira asked always curious about gossip.

"You could say that Mira-niichan. Natsu revealed a few more of his tricks to rescue us from some bandits, and...Well we're not too happy with him at the moment." Wendy said.

"Oh? Well if it has to do with that, ERZA COULD YOU COME OVER HERE FOR A MOMENT PLEASE?!" Mirajane yelled from the bar to the scarlet haired Titania.

"Yes Mira, what is it? I was enjoying my cake." Erza said slightly miffed that the girl had cut into her "Cake time".

"It's about Natsu; apparently he showed a few more tricks to rescue the girls here from bandits." She whispered conspiratorially.

""Is it really safe to be talking about this here?" Erza asked before she had to duck to avoid being hit by a flying chair as anothet one of Fairy Tails famous brawls had started up.

"I think we'll be fine." Erza said answering her own question before turning to the girls and asking "Just how did you three manage to get captured by bandits in the first place?" Erza asked curious.

"Well, for me and Wendy that was pretty much my fault as the bandits got the drop on us and disarmed me of my keys once they did that, they made Wendy-chan surrender or else they were going to kill me." Lucy said self-deprecatingly.

"Lucy, starting tomorrow you will be learning exquiping from me understand? I do not blame you for what happened to yourself and Wendy, however if Natsu hadn't come the two of you would've been in dire straits, all because you couldn't hold onto your keys. Do you understand this?" Erza said calmly yet forcefully.

"Hai, I was actually going to ask you to teach me how to exquip anyway so this doesn't happen again." Lucy said quietly with her head held down in shame.

"Good then, we shall speak no more of this particular part of the mission. After they kidnapped you what happened then?" Erza asked.

"Well, after they put magic cancelling cuffs on Wendy, they took us to their base, an old fort in the woods and brought us to their leader. He told us they were...sex slave trainers and traders." Lucy said after taking a breath.

"Eh?! Did they?" Mira asked as her had tightened on the glass she was cleaning so hard it broke and Erza's hand tightly squeezed her sword at her side to keep her rage in check.

"No they didn't violate any of us thank goodness. They did give me and Lucy quite a few beatings though, likely trying to break our spirits." Wendy said.

"Those bastards, I hope Natsu gave them a good beating!" Erza said spitefully. As everyone knew how she felt about enslavers.

"Oh he did more than beat them Erza, by the time we were all freed, not a single bandit was left alive in that camp." Lisanna stated with chills running down her back at the memory of the dead bodies.

"What, Natsu killed them all?" Mirajane said shocked bringing her hands to her mouth.

"I find that somewhat hard to believe. The Natsu we know may enjoy a good fight, but he is not a killer." Erza stated though the story she had heard from him almost three weeks ago tinged her voice with doubt.

"Believe what you want but Natsu somehow managed to not only summon, but control a Hellhound." Lisanna said in both awe and fear.

"A-are you serious imōto? You're sure it was a Hellhound Lisanna and not some other monster?" Mirajane asked in fear.

"I'm positive Mira-nii it was a Hellhound, just like the one described in your books. It was the size of a horse, had a flaming mane going down its back with a body made out of molten bedrock and eyes and a mouth that glowed like lava pools. For Mavis' sake, it even drooled lava and smelled like ash, brimstone, and death! It was terrifying, and yet Natsu had it under his complete control with a few words! The thing even bowed to him before it disappeared!" Lisanna stated nearly frantic, while the other two nodded in agreement.

"Shh, shh, everything is going to be ok now Lisanna." Her big sister said soothingly while rubbing her back.

But that's not all, Natsu nearly collapsed from fatigue after he dismissed the beast and on the staff he had summoned was a stopwatch which was counting down. When he stopped it, it had only thirty-seven seconds left till it hit zero." Wendy said as tears began to form in her eyes, causing Lucy to comfort the smaller girl.

"What would've happened if the timer hit zero?" Erza asked though she already knew is couldn't be good.

"Natsu would've died." Lucy spoke evenly but her voice sounded somewhere else.

"**EH?!" **Both the S-class mages shouted out causing the guild to stare at them oddly for a moment before going back to whatever it was they normally did.

"Yes Natsu told us on the train that if the timer had hit zero, he would've died." Wendy said.

"But that's not even the weirdest thing, it's just the one we're most annoyed at him for at the moment." Lucy said.

"What's the weirdest thing then?" Mirajane asked extremely curious.

"When we escaped, I forgot to grab my keys and Natsu decided to go back and blow up the base at one point he retrieved them for me...Then Aquarius showed up and chewed me out pretty good until Natsu stepped in. He said something in this strange language, the same one he used to control the Hellhound earlier, and...I've never seen her so scared of someone in my life!" Lucy said.

"Eh, your Celestial Spirit was afraid of Natsu?" Erza asked.

"Yeah, she was stuttering and everything and she left as soon as Natsu told her not to tell anyone anything." Lucy said in a tone full of confusion and suspicion.

"Hmm...It seems as though we will need to have another chat with Natsu wouldn't you say, Mirajane?" Erza asked as a crimson aura swirled around her and her eyes seemed to glow ominously.

"Indeed, Natsu-kun has some explaining to do." Mirajane responded as the same aura covered her.

"Eh, not to poke a hole in your plans you two, but where is Natsu?" Lucy asked as she looked at the two enraged female S-class mages.

This snapped the two out of their thoughts of "questioning" Natsu as they realized he wasn't in the guildhall at the moment.

"Where could he have gone? He was right behind us on the way here." Lisanna said confused.

"Let's go look for him." Erza said as the others nodded and left Fairy Tail to search for Natsu and hopefully find answers...

* * *

Natsu walked down a giant sized hallway that was decorated with the finest things imaginable, from rugs to tapestries, to paintings framed in gold. He paid the décor little attention however as he made his way to a massive set of golden door inlaid with countless precious jewels depicting a man wielding a scythe in flowing black and gold robes, fighting a hoard of monstrous demons. Chuckling to himself, Natsu pushed open the massive door and found himself in a gigantic throne room that was just as lavish as the hall outside if not more so, as the throne room was covered in a gigantic mural of the same man depicted on the door.

It showed him growing up a slave as countless others were lost in the form of sacrifice, how his most beloved friend was slaughtered in front of his eyes causing him to raise a rebellion and fight against his former masters and their demonic servants with then unknown power, and how he raised an army of many freed slaves...but the rest of the mural was broken off, shattered into pieces not showing the war, its end, or its aftereffects.

Sitting on a throne of gold encrusted with jewels, sat Oberon the King of the Spirit World, in all his magnificent glory. The two stared at each other for a moment silently until finally Oberon laughed heartily, and said "Welcome old friend! How are you? Come take a seat and tell me why you've come to visit me after so long." The Spirit King said gesturing to a chair near his throne.

"I am as well as can be expected Obe." Natsu said taking a seat in a comfortable chair before continuing "However, I believe that Lucy Heartfilia will soon become suspicious of me, no thanks to Aquarius." He said with a sigh.

"Oh dear, what did she do old friend?" the king asked worriedly.

"Well I felt she was laying into Heartfilia a bit too hard when she was stripped of her keys by bandits and not just any bandits either but the worst kind." He said with a grimace.

"So they were slave traders then?" Oberon asked with obvious distaste.

"Aye, sex slave traders to be exact, but anyway once I intervened she got all high and mighty with me so I dropped a hint that she shouldn't mess with me. Suffice to say she got it, as she was pretty much a bundle of nerves after that." Natsu sighed again before asking "What do you propose I do old friend? Do I tell her and a few others who already suspect the truth, or should I hope they'll let sleeping demons lie?"

"Hmm, depends really how many people know something already? The immortal king asked.

"Well three people I've directly told something, which would be the story of the King's Blood Wine, while two others one of which is Lucy Heartfilia, who I'm sure suspects something, as she already deduced I'm not a Dragonslayer." He said giving a slight chuckle.

"Hmm, well you could always tell them enough to keep them satisfied for now and tell them only what you think they need to know when they need to know it. It's worked for you before afterall." Oberon said with slight disapproval in his voice.

"Are you still upset about _that, _Obe?" Natsu asked.

"Indeed, If I had known what you were planning back then-" The King was cut off by Natsu who said "You would've tried to stop me and that, in the end would have cost even more innocent lives. Lives of people who deserved a chance at freedom, true freedom from any kind of reliance on an outside force, be it malevolent or benign." Natsu said firmly while looking into his friends' eyes.

The Spirit King sighed and said "Your right of course, but why did it have to be you to carry such a heavy burden?" he asked.

"You forget old friend-"Natsu said as he rose from his chair **"Cefais fy ngeni i fod yn ferthyr."**

"**Cawsoch eich geni i arwain, i beidio â marw hen ffrind."** The King responded in the same tongue.

"**Ydyn, ar y dde." **He responded sounding sour before switching back to the Common Tongue "Anyway, thanks for the chat Obe, I really needed to clear my head." Natsu said giving him a grateful smile.

"Anytime old friend, anytime. Don't be a stranger now you hear? Feel free to drop by every decade or so." The Spirit King said jovially.

"Sure, seeya Oberon." Natsu said with a wave before a portal made out of light appeared and swallowed him whole, taking him back to the human world.

"Goodbye ****** ********, my old friend." The Spirit King muttered to the empty room...

* * *

Natsu appeared in an alleyway off the main street of Magnolia, he walked out of the side street only to be confronted by Erza and the other girls' moments later. "Yo, what's up guys?" he asked raising his hand in greeting.

"Natsu...where...have you...been?" Lucy panted out as she put her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

"Visiting an old friend, why? Have you all been looking for me?" Natsu asked.

"Indeed we have Natsu-kun. Now what is this I hear about you summoning a Hellhound?" Mirajane asked while smiling sweetly.

'_I know that smile, Mira's pissed!'_ Natsu thought.

"Also, is it true that you used a weapon in combat that could've potentially killed you?" Erza said in an obviously unhappy voice.

Natsu sighed _'Damn I've been doing that a lot lately' he thought'_, before he said "Firt off, waht makes you think I owe you kids any explainations? I told you I'd tell you what I want when I wanted to didn't I?" Natsu said becoming annoyed at the girls' need to know his personal business.

"Natsu it's just, we're concerned about you is all. Summoning Hellhounds is no easy feat, and then when we heard about that weapon you used...well we're just concerned about you is all." Mirajane said looking into his eyes.

Natsu looked into the eyes of all of his friends and he saw worry and concern staring back at him in each and every face. _'curse you conscience!' _Natsu thought, before he said "I'd rather not talk about such sensitive subjects out here in the middle of the street where anyone walking past can overhear me. Meet me in the clearing in an hour." He said before pushing past them and walking off...

* * *

**One hour later, clearing in the woods...**

Natsu was already waiting for the girls when they arrived at the clearing in the woods fifty minutes later.

"Well your early, that's surprising." Natsu said from his lotus position on the forest floor.

"We thought it would be good manners to show up ahead of time, we even brought food!" Wendy said carrying another picnic basket although this one was larger than the last.

Suddenly, a flying blue cat came out of the trees and connected itself to Natsu's chest, knocking him over.

"Natsu where were you I was worried!" Happy said.

"Happy if you get off of him he may tell us as that's why we're here!" Carla told him.

"Oh, right. Sorry Natsu" the Exceed said sheepishly.

"It's fine Happy. Now before I get started...Why doesn't everyone else come out so I don't have to strain my voice?" he said loudly.

The girls wondered what he was talking about, until Levy, Gajeel, Grey, Juvia, Cana, Pantherlilly, and Master Makarov popped out of the trees.

"What are you all doing here?! Lucy demanded of them.

"Well that's kind of my fault Lucy-chan..." Master Makarov said while he rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Master?" Erza asked confused.

"Yeah I couldn't help but overhear your little adventure and I followed you to ask Natsu-kun some questions of my own and everyone else kinda followed me...hehehe." The short old man said, as Natsu and the others glared at him in annoyance.

"So what are you doing out here anyway Flamebrain?" Grey asked Natsu.

"Shut up long enough Grey and you might just find out. Everyone please have a seat." Natsu said before he spread his arm outwards while muttering under his breath, making large yet soft looking bushes grow from the ground in mere moments for his friends to use as seats.

The others were surprised at Natsu's non-fire based act of magic, but did as requested and sat down in the beanbag-like bushes.

"Hmm, not bad." Cana commented from her seat, as she took a drink from the gigantic barrel she had with her.

"Thanks, anyway the reason you are all here is because you are nosy snoops who don't know how to keep your noses out of other peoples personal business..." Natsu said glaring at them all making them flinch.

He then smiled warmly and said "However if you can't trust Nakama who can you trust, right?" he asked.

"RIGHT!" Everyone else answered back to him at once with a smile.

"Now then, before we bore each other with twenty questions..." he then picked out the picnic blanket and tossed it over the basket containing all the food before intoning **"Bod yn fwy a digon." **He then removed the sheet to reveal a banquet fit for a king!

Every food the others could imagine and a few they couldn't from whole roasted chickens, pot roasts, and ribs, to a mountain of mashed potatoes, corn, and other side dishes, along with plenty of dessert.

"Dig in guys!" he said happily, while grabbing a plate...

* * *

Once everyone had eaten their fill Natsu decided to speak "Now down to business, you're all here to learn a bit about me; so I'll let each of you ask me one question each. This is the same deal I had with the girls earlier. Now since you three are new here why don't you go first? Natsu asked, looking towards Grey, Makarov, Juvia, Gajeel, and Pantherlilly.

"Ok Flamebrain, how strong are you really? Like give me a percentage of the amount of power you've been using this entire time." Grey asked cockily.

"To answer your question as simply as possible Grey, I've only been using five percent. That is the total amount of power I have had at my disposal the entire time I've been with Fairy Tail." Natsu said simply.

"EH?! Then in the Tower of Heaven, and when we were attacked by Phantom Lord you were holding back almost everything?" Grey asked getting extremely pissed off.

"It's not that simple Grey." Natsu stated calmly while sitting on a jagged obsidian throne.

"How is it not simple Charcoalbreath? When we were in trouble you held back! It seems pretty simple to me!" Grey yelled at him.

"Sorry but you only get one question answered. NEXT!" He yelled before pointing to Juvia.

"Juvia is curious, why did you hold back so much against Phantom Lord?" The blue haired Ice Mage stalker asked.

Natsu sighed for what felt like the millionth time, before saying "I can't access the rest of my power unless I want something bad to happen, something bad on the scale of world ending proportions." Natsu said before pointing at Gajeel and saying "You're up, metalmouth."

* * *

"Che, I'll show you metalmouth you flame spewing pink haired idiot..." Gajeel muttered before Pantherlilly elbowed him in the ribs.

"Eh, oh right umm...let's see...What can't you do with magic?" Gajeel asked.

This caused the others to groan at the stupidity of his question. "Gajeel, Natsu-san may be strong but I doubt eve he has found limitless uses for magic." Levy said while massaging her head.

"Actually that's a very good question Gajeel." Natsu said approvingly.

"It is?" Gajeel asked.

"Yes as currently the only thing I can't do with magic, and thus the only thing that cannot be done with magic, is bring the dead back to life." Natsu said as some pain entered his voice.

"Natsu-kun..." Wendy said worriedly.

"I'm fine, Wendy really I am. Anyway, NEXT!" He yelled out before pointing at Pantherlilly.

"Natsu-san, when you were in Edolas, did you lose all of your magic?" the black furred Exceed asked.

"I lost the five percent I could actually safely use Pantherlilly. The other ninety-five percent was...still tied up." Natsu finished vaguely, before nodding to Levy.

"Can I take a rain check?" Levy asked.

"Sure, but you can only ask your question either here; or someplace I deem private, ok?" Natsu asked her.

"Sure, that sounds fair." Levy said.

"Master Makarov your up." He said nodding towards the older man.

"Well if all you say is true I believe it is I who should be calling you Master, Natsu. Anyway, how old are you really? It's obvious to me that if you are as powerful as you say you are, then you should be older than you seem to be." Makarov said looking at him shrewdly.

"Indeed I am older than I look; in fact what you all are looking at is Transformation Magic I use to hide my real appearance." Natsu said calmly.

"Wait so you look completely different then?" Cana asked.

"I wouldn't say completely different, but I'd look different enough that you wouldn't be able to tell it was me without looking twice. As for my actual age, well I quit counting a couple of centuries ago but last I checked I was 1,893 years old." Natsu said.

"**EHHHH!" **Everyone yelled out in shock!

"Wait, you mean to tell us you've been alive for eleven hundred years before recorded history?" Lucy asked astonished.

"Well actually I'm a bit older than that, see when I said "a couple of centuries" I meant it as a figure of speech. Truth is, I quit counting my age roughly two-hundred years before recorded history I was 1,893 back then." Natsu said sounding sheepish.

"But-but then that would make you..." Wendy said unable to finish as she couldn't quite grasp the concept.

"Yep, just seven years shy of 3,000 this year." Natsu said smiling at her.

"Oh my..." Wendy said before she fainted.

* * *

"Umm is she gonna be ok?" Natsu asked Carla.

"She should be fine Natsu-san, she was just overwhelmed is all, I'm feeling a bit lightheaded myself after that revelation." Carla said.

"Wow Flamebrain...you are such a perverted cradle robber!" Grey yelled at him while pointing his finger at him.

"EHH, WHERE THE HELL DID THIS COME FROM ICE PRINCESS?!" He yelled at him.

"Well think about it Lavabrains, we've got incredibly attractive women in our guild and if you start flirting with, or magic forbid, sleeping with any of them no matter their age you're robbing the cradle!" Grey shouted back.

"I-well-I- Fuck the one time Grey makes sense!" Natsu yelled aloud.

"Eh don't worry about it Natsu...some women like older, more experienced men." Cana said giving him a wink.

"He's not old he's ancient!" Grey yelled out only to receive a flaming fist to the face.

"KISS MY ASS ICE STRIPPER! At least I can get laid if I try unlike some people, who has a girl whose ready and willing to do god knows what to you if you just ask and you do nothing, what are you, gay?" Natsu shot back.

"ENOUGH!" Erza yelled out, which caused Grey to tremble in fear and Natsu to just look at her sideways and say "You do realize that I was never really even slightly intimidated by and you couldn't do shit to me if I had access to my full power, right?"

Erza glared daggers at Natsu for a moment before saying "I'm well aware of that, but that doesn't mean you and Grey can't be civil to one another."

"True, anyway the rest of you are gonna have to take a rain check cause I'm tired and full. Plus we have a big day tomorrow, right master?" he asked.

"A big day tomorrow, what is Natsu talking about Master?" Lucy asked.

"Tomorrow is the start of the S-class promotion for Fairy Tail on Tenrou Island, which all of you will be attending...Though I'm having second thoughts about letting you join Natsu." Makarov said.

"You couldn't stop me even if you wanted to Makarov. However, you are my Guildmaster and if you don't want me participating I will honor your wishes." Natsu said simply as he made his way out of the clearing with the still passed out Wendy in his arms...

* * *

**End of Chapter**

**Total Length: 5,994 – Date Completed: 3/14/13**

* * *

**AN: Yo everybody! Surprise, surprise I just couldn't get the next chap for this fic out of my head! So I'm updating even sooner than I thought I would be...Um go me? Anyway here is the third chapter of Etherion I hope you all enjoy it and feel free to review! Till next time, Stay cool, Stay sexy, stay active (interpret that one however you want), and Stay Alive by keeping away from the Zombie Menace! Bubbajack out! Peace!**

**Golassary:**

**"Myfi sy'n cael ei hela gan y nefoedd, yn ofni ac yn casáu gan uffern, ac yn melltithio i fyw dragwyddol"- **"I am he who is hunted by heaven, feared and loathed by hell, and cursed to live eternally."

**"Cefais fy ngeni i fod yn ferthyr." - "**I was born to be a martyr."

**"Cawsoch eich geni i arwain, i beidio â marw hen ffrind."- **"You were born to lead, not to die old friend."

"**Ydyn**, **ar y dde"**-** "**Yeah, right."

**"Bod yn fwy a digon."- **Become more and plenty.

* * *

**ATTENTION! Please visit my profile to see an important announcement regarding this story, and others. Thank you and have a nice day!**


End file.
